Dolly Banks Shapiro, 71, owner of two Philadelphia radio...

September 12, 1985

PHILADELPHIA — Dolly Banks Shapiro, 71, owner of two Philadelphia radio stations, died Tuesday. Shapiro, who owned WWDB-FM and WHAT-AM, succeeded her late brother, William Banks, as president and general manager of the stations in 1979. WHAT, which features the big-band sounds of mostly black performers, was the first radio station to hire a full-time black announcer and to schedule a regular program featuring a black hostess. It also was the first station in the Philadelphia area to hire black newscasters. WWDB is an all-talk station.